Govt. Sites Crash in Suspected Hacker Attack

Several government websites crashed Sunday, leading experts to suggest a targeted attack by hackers.<br/>

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Maayana Miskin, 06/11/11 19:16

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Several government websites crashed on Sunday afternoon, leading experts to suspect a coordinated hacker attack on the main server supporting the sites. Among the sites down were those of the Shin Bet and IDF.

IDF spokespeople said it was too early to determine the cause of the crash, and that servers may have been down due to a technical error.

Israel was threatened by hackers last week after the IDF prevented far-left foreign activists from reaching Gaza in violation of the naval blockade on Hamas. An anonymous message (see YouTube video embedded here) warned that Israeli sites would be targeted in response.

In September, Turkish hackers managed to hijack approximately 350 Israeli sites, in what analysts said was likely a “test run” for a major hacking attack. Iran is also suspected of having targeted Israeli information online.